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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29705943">Early Shift</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/radio_antlers/pseuds/radio_antlers'>radio_antlers</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Target, Gen, Oneshot, slight catradora if you squint</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:09:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29705943</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/radio_antlers/pseuds/radio_antlers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Adora isn't enjoying the morning shift. Catra decides to offer her some company, whether she wants it or not.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Early Shift</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, Adora – you know you’re doing that wrong, right?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It took just about every ounce of impulse control in Adora’s body to <em>not</em> turn around and chuck the can of soda at her interruption.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Working the early shift at Target <em>rots. </em>She was still practically half asleep, the florescent lights made her eyes bleed, and every passing minute felt like ten years. Adora wasn’t even <em>supposed to work </em>on Saturdays; she was covering for Glimmer. On any other day, she had the afternoon shift. You know, the shift that <em>didn’t </em>require her to wake up at six in the morning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And because the universe just <em>loves </em>to rub salt in her wounds, it just so happened that her least favorite coworker was working the shift with her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aren’t you supposed to be restocking grocery right now, Catra?” Adora grumbled, rolling her eyes and returning to her task, which was reloading the soda case. Monster Energy drinks had risen in popularity as of late.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Catra shrugged, smirking. “Already finished,” she purred, leisurely stroking the faux fur of her clip-on cat ears. “Bugging you is way more fun than simple busywork, anyway.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looked a little more put together at this ungodly hour (6:45 a.m.). Maroon flannel sitting underneath her vest, ripped up black jeans, scuffed up combat boots, and the previously mention kitty-cat ears sitting snug against her pixie cut. Catra was <em>always </em>put together, in that rogue, dashingly disheveled kind of way, meanwhile Adora was trudging around in joggers, Vans, and a brilliant red hoodie bearing the insignia of her school’s basketball team.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know that <em>“simple busywork” </em>is what gets you a paycheck at the end of the week, right?” Adora shoved another can into the dispenser with a quiet grunt. She didn’t even bother to look at Catra, her sarcastic little smirk was burned into her brain at this point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, I know,” she assured, leaning over the trolley. “You’re <em>still </em>doing that wrong, by the way.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fed up with Catra’s constant commentary, Adora slammed her balled fist against the express cart, causing her coworker to jump back a little. Her startled expression didn’t stick around for long, melding back into that same catty smirk Adora had grown to despise <em>(no pun intended, by the way). </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why don’t <em>you </em>do it, then? Since you seem to know <em>better </em>than me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Catra slid over to Adora’s side, giving her a light shove out of the way, only adding to her frustration. “With <em>pleasure.” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>She got to work, looking more focused than Adora had ever seen her in the two weeks she’d been working here. Carefully, Catra unloaded the shelf, giving the other girl these endearing, side eye glances every so often. Her eyes, by the way, were quite the spectacle; one yellow, one blue, managing to look subdued and alert at the same time. Adora was never sure which one to look at. Half of her – and half of the staff – thought that they were contacts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The way <em>you </em>were loading this thing,” Catra began, “if someone were to grab one, the next one would just shoot out and explode on the floor, which guess what?” She didn’t wait for Adora to reply before continuing. “That only makes more work for <em>me, </em>or <em>you, </em>or someone else.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adora crossed her arms, tapping her sneaker against the linoleum, combatting Catra’s sultry, satisfied grin with a glare of her own. She <em>hated </em>being upstaged with a burning passion. Being able to knock jobs out of the park was the feeling that fueled her throughout the day – well, <em>that </em>and caffeine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The feline-akin teen looked Adora up and down, drawing an angry (or possibly flustered) red hue to her face. “This is usually the part where you thank me for helping out. I pretty much just <em>saved </em>your ass from a slap on the wrist.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Within the two, measly weeks she’d been employed, Catra had ended up in the manager’s office a total of four different times. The first because of a dress code interference, the second due to a mishap in the café, and the last two after some other floor workers – not to name names but <em>Bow </em>and <em>Perfuma – </em>complained about her <em>scaring them </em>on the job. And all she learned from those visits were A) not to wear a clip on cat tail to work, B) she was no longer allowed to work in the café, and C) a simple <em>“hey,” </em>followed by the individual’s name sounded a <em>lot </em>more threatening than she ever would have thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adora scoffed. <em>“Thanks,” </em>she said, putting force behind the syllable. “That wasn’t a <em>completely annoying </em>thing you did for me. You should keep that up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Catra grinned, throwing out a joke salute. “I don’t think I will. Being <em>pesky </em>is a hell of a lot more fun than <em>helping.” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why did I expect you to say anything different?” Adora began reloading the second dispenser, mimicking how Catra did it before. Load it from the back, don’t overstuff it; how she had found a way to screw up this <em>very </em>simple job before was now beyond her. Must have been the lack of sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a few more rinse and repeat cycles of that, the trolley was empty and Adora was…still incredibly sleepy. God, Glimmer was going to owe her <em>so hard </em>when she got back! Just as she went to push the cart back to the warehouse, a sudden weight jostled it, stopping her in her tracks. Catra, deciding that she couldn’t just throw Adora a bone, had hopped up on the cart, like a little kid in a wheelbarrow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The blonde sighed for, like, a full minute, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation, attempting to mask the small grin tugging at her lips. “Are you seriously doing this right now?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You tell me,” Catra quipped. “Hey, if you let me hitch a ride, I’ll get you a coffee. Huntara and I have a little deal.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, who am <em>I </em>to deny a free coffee?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, begrudgingly, Adora pushed her spunky coworker all the way back to the warehouse; she’d do just about anything for a free coffee, as silly as that is. Maybe if she <em>didn’t </em>send Catra barreling through the double doors, she’d throw some popcorn into the deal, too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If there's any proof that I haven't been to a Target in a very long time, it might be this. I just watch a lot of "Superstore." Hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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